Georgia added jobs over the past year at a faster pace than the rest of the nation, but unemployment in the Peach State during February was unchanged from the previous month and remained above the U.S. average.
The Georgia Department of Labor said today that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February was 5.4 percent, unchanged from January. The rate was 6.2 percent in February 2015.
Nationwide, unemployment also was unchanged last month, but the U.S. rate remained lower at 4.9 percent.
“Although the unemployment rate held steady, our January-to-February job growth is much stronger than what we’ve averaged for the last three years, and we had a significant reduction in new layoffs,” Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. “Our strong over-the-year job growth continues to out pace the national average.”
The number of jobs increased by 11,900, or 0.3 percent, in February to 4,342,100, up from 4,330,200 in January.
In the past year, Georgia employers added 116,000 jobs, a 2.7 percent growth rate, compared to a U.S. growth rate of 1.9 percent.